Contents

History

Flint Castle by JMW Turner

Flint received its charter in 1284, the earliest in Wales.

King Edward I began to build Flint Castle in 1277: the first of his 'iron ring' of royal castles to be built in Wales, and its design served as the basis for larger castles such as Harlech and Rhuddlan. Both castle and town were attacked by the forces of Madog ap Llywelyn during the revolt of 1294-5; the defenders of the town burnt it in order to deny its use to the Welsh.

Richard II was handed over to his enemy Henry Bolingbroke in the castle in 1399. As a consequence, it is the setting for Act III, Scene III of the Shakespeare play Richard II. Owain Glyndŵr unsuccessfully assaulted Flint Castle at the opening of his revolt in 1400.

The town did not have a wall, but a protective earthen and wooden palisaded ditch. The outline of this remained visible in the pattern of streets until the mid-1960s, and the mediæval boundary can still be traced now. This can be seen in John Speed's map of Flintshire.

In 1969 Flint hosted the National Eisteddfod, and the town still has a circle of Gorsedd stones put in for the ceremonies. In July 2006 the stones were centre stage in the National Eisteddfod Proclamation Ceremony which formally announced Mold as the 2007 host town of the event.[1]

Culture and demographics

The Dee

Flint is an overwhelmingly English-speaking town (indeed in the 2001 census, only 18% of Flint's population identified themselves as Welsh). Many people in Flint have some knowledge of the [[Welsh language, although competence does vary. English is the main spoken language to be heard across the town. There are more Polish language speakers in Flint since the relaxation of trade and immigration laws within Europe. Many shops have English and Polish information displayed and there is a Polish shop (Polski Sklep) specialising in Polish products.

The Flint accent today is very similar to that of Liverpool for which it is oftem mistaken; a rich blend of patterns of speak both native to the soil and blown in from across the Dee and the Irish Sea. [2]

Several traditional songs are associated with Flint.[3] The most widely sung is "The Yard". Another popular song is "Fifty German bombers over Flint", which tells the story of a wartime bombing raid over nearby Liverpool that accidentally targeted the town of Flint instead. Verses describe the arrival of the bombers over Flint, and how they were shot down by the "Bagillt Navy". Eventually, the ill-fated German aircrew were fished out by the "Greenfield Fishers". The song is often sung in a drunken, friendly manner to the accompaniment of much hand clapping and revelry.